KALAMAZOO -- The Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety officers' union is asking City Manager Kenneth Collard to retract statements he made about a suspended officer and apologize, calling the comments "inflammatory and inaccurate."

In a letter sent Monday to Collard, Kalamazoo Public Safety Officers' Association President Laura Misner said officer Craig Stouffer was never informed that he was under investigation for allegedly making "threats" and he was not given an opportunity to defend himself.

Gazette fileJim Mallery, acting chief of the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety.

At issue are remarks Collard made to the Kalamazoo Gazette on Friday about Acting Chief Jim Mallery's decision to withdraw from the city's search for a new chief.

Mallery said in a letter to Collard last week that Assistant City Manager Fay Peek, acting on Collard's behalf, pushed for Stouffer's termination for reasons "outside the scope of an internal investigation."

Collard told the Gazette that discussion of terminating Stouffer was based on allegations that the officer made "threats in conversation early on in the internal investigation." Collard declined to elaborate.

Collard told the Gazette that he was not aware of whether the alleged threats were related to Stouffer's role as evidence officer in the Kalamazoo Valley Enforcement Team's botched 2003 prostitution investigation, which is being probed by the U.S. Attorney's Office.